In almost every corner of Karachi, there are signs of the heat wave scorching the sunny city.
Hundreds of patients suffering from heat-related illnesses pour into hospitals every day, exceeding capacity. Mortuaries overwhelmed by the increase in bodies are struggling to find space.
Frustrated residents began blocking roads with stones and sticks to protest the lack of electricity and drinking water. Even the usually bustling markets and streets have emptied as people avoid leaving their homes unless they have to.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and economic hub, is the latest place to suffer as South Asia bakes under a blistering heat wave this summer, a brutal reminder of climate change’s deadly toll on one part of the world particularly vulnerable to its effects. and in a country where ineffective governance and wide economic disparities have magnified the suffering of its poorest citizens.
In a particularly dire eight-day stretch late last month, temperatures reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), with high humidity adding to the misery. That was the hottest since 2015, a year when officials said more than 1,200 people died of heat-related causes in Karachi.
With temperatures still hovering near 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the sense of crisis remains.
“It feels like you’re living in an oven,” said Akbar Ali, 52, a rickshaw driver who has taken many overheated people to hospital in recent weeks. “It’s terrible to see people collapsing in the street.”
A port city on the Arabian Sea, Karachi is known for its hot summers and monsoon floods. Such extreme situations are especially difficult for the 60 percent of residents who live in the city’s large slums, where houses are made of concrete or tarpaulin and roads are unpaved.
But this summer was particularly bad. In the scorching heat from June 23 to June 30, the city’s largest mortuary received about three times as many bodies as on a normal day, according to the Edhi Foundation, a charity known for its extensive mortuary operations. and the large fleet of ambulances.
In total, the charity’s mortuaries received around 700 bodies in those eight days. Although the cause of death was not clear in each case, the timing was telling.
“This is a humanitarian crisis, but many heat-related deaths will not be officially recorded as heat-related deaths,” he said. Erum Hyder, an academic at the College of Wooster who has studied Karachi’s political challenges. “They are often categorized as ‘fever’, ‘heart attack’ or ‘infant mortality’, which hides the real impact.”
In recent weeks, power outages in the slums have become frequent and prolonged, lasting from six to 16 hours a day. Without power, millions cannot use the electric fans that offer some relief (air conditioning is rare). Frustration over power outages has prompted residents to regularly block major roads in protest.
Outages are “devastating for everyone in these neighborhoods during a heat wave, but especially for infants, the elderly and pregnant women,” Ms Hyder said.
The water has also broken. Many neighborhoods face severe water shortages, turning the lack of clean drinking water into a public health crisis. In Karachi, a significant portion of the population relies on purchasing water from private companies via tankers, as the city’s water infrastructure does not meet the needs of all its residents. During summer, even areas that normally receive piped water are forced to buy water due to shortages. Skyrocketing prices for water vehicles are burdening already struggling communities.
“The cost of tankers has doubled or even tripled,” said Mehmood Siddiqui, a private school teacher whose monthly salary is $143. “Now they charge $28 for a tanker of water that cost $14 just last month. It’s outrageous.”
Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering from heatstroke and severe dehydration.
“Patients are reporting symptoms such as high fever, weakness, gastroenteritis, vomiting and diarrhea in numbers that far exceed normal,” said Nasreen Gul, a nurse at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, the city’s largest government hospital.
Government officials have tried to downplay reports of large-scale deaths from the heat. Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi, citing data from government hospitals, maintained that the number of heat-related deaths was minimal.
Government officials have set up cooling centers across the city. Charities are also providing some relief to residents, setting up roadside camps to offer water mist as well as glasses of cool water or Rooh Afza, a popular summer drink in South Asia.
Rain last Thursday brought relief to Karachi after the midday temperature peaked at 104 degrees Fahrenheit. However, he highlighted the city’s vulnerability to the summer’s other major weather problem: catastrophic flooding.
“We can pray for rain to cool the weather,” said Ali Afzal, 44, an auto mechanic in Karachi whose house was demolished in the July 2022 urban flooding caused by heavy rains. “But more rain presents another challenge, especially for city dwellers who are not prepared to deal with it.”
